Crawl
by kingandlionheart
Summary: When the promising lure of freedom was dangled in front of her, she readily accepted. It was only later that she would learn tenderness, pain, and carelessness would meld together to create a sickening game she would never have the strength to win.
1. Chapter 1

Echo had always thought of Tatooine as disgusting. The red dust that blew across the desolate planet never failed to reach its way into the crevices and cracks of every corner of Tandor the Hutt's compound. She realized, silently, as she stared at the twin suns fading below the horizon, that she had never seen another world besides this one, and wondered that if she saw the lush trees and bodies of water customers who passed through the compound told her about, that she would look at them any differently. Perhaps Tatooine was a star of comfort in the center of the galaxy, and she had fashioned herself too obtuse too see past the stone hell hole where she resided.

She sighed as she lifted herself carefully from her perch at the edge of one of the many towers that created the various holds of the compound. Turning, she took one last glance at the setting of the twin suns and made her way over to the ladder in the center of the turret, rusted from wind and sand, and made her way down. Her feet landed on the packed earth of the floor with a small thud and she pulled the sheer brown cloth away from the bridge of her nose and off of her head, shaking sand out of it before folding it and stuffing it back into the small satchel cinched to the hip of her skirt. As she walked down the dimly lit hallway, shaking the sand from her hair that had made its way under her hood, she heard a voice call her name and winced at the sound.

"And where have you been?"

Echo turned to meet the milky white eyes of the man who addressed her. Reaver's hands were on his hips and a frown formed across his orange face.

"Cleaning," Echo replied simply to the Arkanian, hoping that if she spoke sparingly, then her lie would hold.

Reaver jerked his arm from behind him and Echo saw that he held Tamara, one of the most recent recruits, by her slight blue-colored arm, in a vice grip. Tamara grimaced as he squeezed, giving her permission to speak.

The young Twi'lek girl stepped forward, an offer of apology to Echo in her eyes as she spoke, "He asked me where you were… I couldn't lie."

Frustration built in Echo's stomach, whether from being caught or the anxiety that was apparent on the young girl's face, she didn't know. A smug smile played across Reaver's lips.

"After all these years, you choose to place your trust in fresh blood? I thought better of you, Echo."

Echo shot the man a venomous look and approached him, pulling the young girl's arm from his grip. "We need to get back to the kitchens," was her only reply.

Reaver gave a mocking bow to the pair of females. "That you do, carry on."

"Damn Arkanians," Echo muttered under her breath as she all but stomped away, pulling the young girl behind her, who struggled to match Echo's frantic pace, but gave no complaints. The pair traveled through corridor after corridor of packed copper earth whose walls were lined with red halogen lights, making the walls look as if they had been painted with blood. If Echo knew any better, she would have assumed that they were. Soon the pair passed through an arched doorway and Echo let go of Tamara's arm. She turned about swiftly and caught the girl's eyes.

"Always lie, is what I told you," she began, " _always_ lie. If you don't you won't make it. You'll be dead, worm food in a matter of months. You've already been here weeks and I can't afford to coddle you anymore, understand?" she pressed.

Tamara's eyes went wide and she nodded vigorously. "I know, I should have listened, I just—Echo, I'm sorry, I don't—," she said, words tumbling out of her mouth in breathy spurts.

Echo raised a hand to stop her and shook her head. "No buts, just listen."

She left the girl standing where she was, still wide-eyed, and made her way to one of the various screens that lined the back wall of the large, cluttered hall. She sighed to herself as she raked her fingers across the screen, looking at various orders but not really paying attention, and instantly regret the harsh tone she used with the girl, who was no more than 15 years of age. She hated treating her harshly, but she also knew that if she did not instruct her to the ways of the compound, she would soon learn how true Echo's threats of worm food really were.

Echo had been at the compound ever since she could remember. She had arrived at an age too young to form lasting memories and would have had the same fate she warned Tamara of, if not for the saving grace that she was human, a species rarely trafficked through the compound to be sold. Tandor's palace had been here for decades and functioned both as a Tatooine trading outpost and watering hole for the less than savory that traveled throughout the galaxy. Various species were bought and sold here, and every so often one was bought by Tandor himself, either as guardsmen, domestics, or worst of it all, personal servants to do the over-sized slug's bidding. Echo was put to work in the cantina at a young age, helping to prepare the food and drink that was served at exorbitant prices to greedy customers. As she grew and it became apparent that her looks could be marketed to serve more quantities of food and drink, she had been given a scant uniform and sent to work at the front, taking orders, serving food, and otherwise entertaining guests.

Echo was pulled out of her reverie at a succession of beeps emitted from a plating droid. She entered a combination of numbers on a keypad below the screen and a fuzzy, pixelated image of herself appeared on the monitor. With a click the words below her picture switched from "DISENGAGED" to "ENGAGED" as she removed her pack from her hip and dropped it, kicking it into a hole she found years ago, hidden beneath a long line of cupboards. She approached the droid and lifted a platter from in front of it which it had just finished arranging with various food and drink. "What table?" she leaned over and asked it. It responded with a whirling noise and Echo nodded. "Eight, got it."

She walked towards the swinging door with the tray of food positioned on her shoulder and bumped it with her hip. It swung open and she took a deep breath as she entered a wide, dim lit room that was littered with tables. A thick layer of acrid pipe smoke hung low throughout the area and the scent of it and stale liquor, spilled on the sticky floor over the years and never cleaned, assaulted her senses. She surveyed the room for the best way to navigate the tables, occupied by various species of humanoids, without having a scaly hand slither its way between the gap in her skirt that displayed the tanned skin of her legs. After finding what she hoped would be the best path, she made her way to a small table in the corner of the room that was occupied by three figures clad in black.

But as she walked, working to complete a task she'd done thousands of times, a foreign feeling assaulted her senses. It felt as if her mind was no longer her own and she felt darkness, like the light of the planet itself had been snuffed out. And then a searing pain shot like a lighting bolt up her arm from her hand. She buckled and the tray of food clattered to the floor as she let out a yelp. She cradled her hand to her chest; it felt as if she has stuck it in one of the dough compressors in the kitchen, and fell to her knees. This… intrusion had flooded her senses and she felt far away, sensing only the pain radiating now throughout her whole body. Her face and her side burnt and seared. She was barely aware that two of Tandor's guardsmen had approached her and jerked her up from the floor, leading her to a corridor to the belly of the compound. Before she completely lost consciousness, the three black figures abruptly rose from the table in the corner and followed them towards the exit of the cantina.

* * *

Kylo Ren stifled gasp as the bacta he slathered across the burn on his face stung and sizzled as it regenerated tissues to take the place of burnt skin. The blaster wound on his side still leaked blood and he squeezed the rest of the sticky bacta onto his hand and rubbed it into the gash. He placed both ungloved hands on either side of the basin positioned against a wall of his room, his new quarters on Lehon, and let out a long breath. He was thankful that when the Supreme Leader sensed his presence as the small vessel landed in the hanger of the compound, he had granted him enough to time clean himself up before meeting with his Master.

He took purchase of his shirtless form in the mirror against the wall, turning and lifting him arm to see his side more clearly, and watched as the blaster wound that damned Wookie had gifted him with healed until nothing was left but the ghost of a scar. With a flick of his wrist the faucet turned on and water whooshed into the basin. Kylo cupped his hands under the stream and splashed water against his face, ridding himself of the mud that had caked against his skin as he lay on the ground of Starkiller, waiting for a shuttle to appear and collect him before the earth completely severed and he was sucked into the core of the planet. He assumed he would be retrieved, even as he felt slick denial ghost across his mind, making him think that this time he had failed too much, and the Supreme Leader would leave him there to bleed in the snow until the planet collapsed in on itself. Sure enough, however, a metal hook had descended down from through the trees and he grabbed it. It lifted him in the shuttle that would carry him and the rest of the evacuees the 50 parsecs it took to reach the Unknown Region and finally, Lehon.

The sour taste of bile rose in his throat as he finally permitted himself to think of the events that had transpired on the artificial planet, how he had let a traitor and a filthy, useless scavenger best him to the point of utter exhaustion. He felt ashamed, worthless, and the emotions consumed him until he had no choice but to expel them in the form of his fist slamming repeatedly against the wall of his room. Thoughts and faces that he did not want to see flittered across his mind as the unforgiving grey stone of the wall tore and bloodied his knuckles and he wanted to scream.

He continued hitting, caught in a manic cycle, until a call boomed against his thoughts. _Come._ Even though Kylo Ren knew he wasn't in the room with him, he looked around for the grayed giant, as the call felt like his withered fingers were raking lines against Kylo's brain. He shook his head to rid himself of the feeling and looked down at his aching, bloodied knuckles. The bacta that had been brought to his room by service droids he had already used in treating his battle wounds, so he opted to simply put on a fresh pair of gloves to soak up the blood that dripped down his fingers. After this, he replaced his shirt and cloak and placed his helmet atop his head and it fastened with a hiss. Kylo Ren gave himself one more look in the mirror to confirm his composure and left his quarters, walking briskly through the halls and down, down many staircases until he reached the subterranean heart of the complex which held the Supreme Leader's quarters, including a large audience hall, which Kylo Ren entered.

The hall was vast with impossibly high gabled ceilings. The walls were the dark stone that made up the rest of the complex but the stone itself was carved with a variety of ancient Sith symbols. The room was dark, with only a cone of light that illuminated a stone throne at the center of the hall and the Supreme Leader himself. Kylo Ren approached the figure and knelt in front of him. "Master," he said as he took a knee, his head bent in genuflection.

"You have failed. You did not defeat the girl," the withered mouth said simply.

Kylo grimaced under his mask and kept his head low. "No."

The being tossed his thin wrist. "No matter, the time to deal with the scavenger will come. Until then, we have other work to do. Something is beginning, I have felt strength in it, though even I do not know what yet it means. Have you felt it, Kylo Ren?"

Kylo Ren shook his head. "No, Master. I… I have not."

"Look at me, Kylo Ren."

Kylo heeded the command and raised his head. Snoke's small black eyes beat into him and he felt scrutinized in spite of himself.

"The awakening has created a domino effect, it seems, throughout the whole of the galaxy. I am sending you and a platoon of troopers to fetch what is needed in Tatooine, scouts have already been sent ahead to assess the situation."

Kylo Ren nodded his head and raised himself to stand. "Yes, my Lord. I will succeed in this mission, I will not fail you again," he paused, willing himself to continue, "but, forgive me, my lord, Tatooine… why?"

The giant steepled his long fingers and closed his eyes. "Reach out into the galaxy, Kylo Ren. Feel with the force, what do you see?"

Kylo Ren closed his eyes and took a deep breath, reaching out. Suddenly, dry heat and the feeling of something beating against his skin… sand. He smelled spoiled liquor, breathed in stale smoke, saw the eyes of a young Twi'lek girl and felt pity, such a foreign emotion for him, building in his gut. And through all of that he felt power, untapped and unknown, but strong none the less, and a dim figure corporated in his mind's eye. Tanned skin, unruly waves of copper hair bent into a multitude of thin braids… a girl. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked at his master. He spoke. "My lord, this girl… she is important?"

Snoke bowed his head in response. "She is the beginning. Retrieve her and bring her to Lehon."

Kylo bowed. "Yes my lord." As he turned to leave, Snoke spoke again and he stopped, back still turned from the man.

"You will remember Kylo Ren, the powerful feel all that the universe says, even in the heat of battle…You may go now, a ship awaits departure in the rear hanger."

Kylo Ren gave a faint nod and left the audience hall. As he stalked from the hall and to the upper level where the hanger resided, he felt the last words of Snoke like a punch in the stomach as he knew they were a criticism, an assessment of his weakness. He reached the hanger and entered the ship that contained the small fleet of Storm Troopers and took his place along the chrome benches that lined either side of the vessel. Again, he found his mind going back to recent events has he absentmindedly fingered the hilt of his lightsaber. With him now on board, the vessel exited the hanger and soon they were in lightspeed, barreling towards Tattooine.

* * *

 **an:** well i have been officially sucked in. the seven year old girl who loved han solo and asked for a blue lightsaber for christmas is now obsessed with kylo ren. as you all can hopefully already tell, this is a kylo ren/oc fic. i've already found a handful of reylo fics out in the ether that i knew i couldn't compare with, and i think i've actually got a pretty exciting future laid out for this fic. so read, review, favorite, but most of all, enjoy!

also i desperately need a **beta reader** , if anyone is interesting, please don't hesitate to message me.

and finally, i've decided to re-vamp my seemingly dead loki/oc fic, _another stolen relic_ , so if you're like me and you have a penchant for angsty dark haired supervillians, keep your eyes open for that.

xoxo


	2. Chapter 2

As the craft neared Tattooine, Kylo Ren rose and walked to the head of the ship, turning so the eyes of every one of the small fleet of twenty Stormtroopers were on him. He brought his hand to rest on the hilt of his saber and began speaking in the mechanical lilt created by his mask.

"I want all of you in front of the complex and to stay there until I retrieve what is needed. Should anyone cause you interference, shoot them. You, you and you," he continued, pointing to the first three troopers on the bench to his left. "You'll be coming with me. Am I understood?"

His audience of armored soldiers held out their arms simultaneously in the salute of the First Order and replied with a synchronized 'affirmative' through their helmets. Kylo Ren turned towards the control panel of the ship and peered out of the large window. The dusty planet that was their destination was becoming visual through the blank darkness of space. As the pilot altered the speed of the vessel to enter the atmosphere and prepare for landing, Kylo turned and walked back towards the exit ramp of the craft. The troopers behind him stood methodically and raised their blasters to a defensive position held across their chests. The craft landed and the ramp was lowered, two troopers exited in front of Kylo and surveyed the area. Finding nothing amiss, they signaled behind them, and he and the rest of the brigade descended the ramp onto the gritty sand that covered most of the planet.

As Kylo Ren stalked towards the brownstone compound he felt the eyes of the various traders and customers of the market that was assembled outside of the entrance of the building eye him and the soldiers with suspicion and fear. He reached out with the Force, feeding on their trepidation to strengthen his will in completing the objective. The various troopers took posts around the market and in front of the dingy and dented blast door of the compound as Kylo Ren entered. Immediately, an Arkanian hasted to towards him. Even though the alien's stature equalled that of Kylo Ren's, he submitted to a bow before the Knight. Throughout the rest of the cantina, silence had fallen as the various occupants looked on at the scene before them. Anxiety hung as heavy as the stale smoke that filled the dining hall.

"Kylo Ren, what a pleasure it is for you to pay a visit to Master Tandor's palace. I am Reaver. Please, what may I do for you?"

"There is a human girl here, you know the one I speak of," Kylo replied with a commanding tone. "Bring her to me."

Reaver's eyes widened with recognition of who Kylo was alluding to, but he quickly composed himself. "My apologies, my lord, but the slave girl is in an audience with Master Tandor, for she has erred in her duties, and must be disciplined thusly. I can speak with Master Tandor and—"

Kylo Ren reached his hand out and grasped the stupid creature by the throat with the Force, pulling him closer to him. The Arkanian's long legs hung in the air and the toe of his boots scraped across the dirt floor as he was pulled towards Kylo.

"I do not think I asked for any of that information. I asked for the girl. Take me to her," with that, he released his force grip and the alien dropped to the ground on all fours, gasping for air.

"Yes sir," he wheezed and rose after taking a handful of frantic gulps of air, rubbing at his neck. "This way," he walked towards a door through the back of the cantina and Kylo Ren, along with his troopers, followed him down the hall.

* * *

Echo was thrown into the dirt roughly causing the palms of her hands and her knees to scrape against the ground, but it brought her back to awareness. She glanced around her surroundings and her stomach dropped as the realization of where the guards had brought her hit her like like a fuller loaded sand scraper. She did not look up, but could feel the watery eyes of Tandor, along with the rest of his retinue, on her. She stayed on all fours but immediately bowed her head to that sandy ground in genuflection.

"Master Tandor," she breathed through the residue of pain that was still affecting her.

"Rise, Echo," the slimy creature spoke in his guttural language.

Echo stood up and winced, noticing that Tandor's trademark whip was already in his hand, curled between chubby fingers.

"I hear that you have dropped a whole tray of food and drink meant for customers, my pet. Tell me, do you know who pays for the food we feed to our guests?"

"You do, Master Tandor," Echo replied in a small voice.

"Exactly, and you know that I appreciate nothing less than losing money, especially from stupid slave girls such as yourself." He cracked the whip and it connected with Echo's shoulder with a sharp slap. She staggered back from the impact and placed her hand against her shoulder, which was already beginning to throb.

"I apologize, Master Tandor, something came over me and, it, this pain—it caused me to drop my tray."

The corpulent being let out a mirthless laugh. "So you drop _my_ food, wasting _my_ money, and do not even have a good excuse for it?"

He cracked the whip again and this time it made contact against the front of Echo's thighs, causing her to crumple to the ground. Echo grit her teeth, but kept herself from lashing out with words at her accuser. Tandor opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word out, three men, the black-clad figures from the table in the corner, entered the room with blasters raised and fired three warning shots into the air. The figures on the dais that made up Tandor's retinue let out screams and scrambled to try and hide behind one another, but there was only pushing and shoving as no one wanted to be unshielded from the weapons and the men that held them. The leashed, sparsely clad girls at Tandor's feet huddled closer to him, seemingly melting into his enormous mass of flesh.

Tandor himself roared in frustration, "Who dares enter my private quarters?" he barked in a slurred collection of syllables.

Echo chanced a look behind her to see the three figures retreat as another party entered the room. Reaver had led three soldiers, who Echo recognized by their white armor as Stormtroopers, through the immense doorway and another strange figure followed him. The figure was impossibly tall and clad in black like the men who let out the blaster shots. A mask made up of chrome and metal the color of obsidian covered his face. Echo's eyes grew wide and she cursed the fact that of all days to make it mistake, it was on one that an ambush had decided to make themselves known with strength in weapons and numbers. She jumped to her feet, ignoring the sluggish alien or any further punishment he could inflict on her, and threw frantic eyes around the room as she looked for the nearest exit or place to hide from the firefight she assumed would ensue. Yet as the figure that accompanied Reaver came into the sight of Tandor, he rose a fleshy arm, signaling for his own guards to lower their already trained weapons.

"Kylo Ren," he said in the human tongue and not his own, which surprised Echo. She knew he only reverted from his own language when he entertained guests of the utmost importance. "Welcome to the palace of Tandor the Hutt. What can Tandor do for Kylo Ren?" he asked with a grotesque smile.

The figure stalked forward and stopped, casting a look down to Echo that made her shiver, before he replied.

"I have come for the girl," the man said, his deep voice reverberating through the metal of his mask. He gestured towards Echo.

Echo began to shake and swallowed a lump that was forming in her throat. Her ears roared with disbelief and fear as she listened, only barely, to the rest of the exchange.

Tandor let out a strained chuckle. "For the human server? My lord, Tandor has many other options to better satisfy you with. Would Kylo Ren like to see them?"

"I have no use for the trash you entertain yourself with, Tandor the Hutt. I have come specifically for the girl and I will have her," he turned his head then to Echo. "Get up."

Echo only looked at him, not comprehending his words and feeling quite immovable, then suddenly she felt a pull in her stomach that forced her to her feet. She let out of a dry cough at the sensation, so similar to what she had felt in the cantina and yet so different, and in the back of her mind she knew that it was caused by this man before her.

Tandor's eyes filled with disbelief and a look of anger crossed his face, but only for a moment. Echo knew that beast was not stupid, vile and violent, but not stupid. "Kylo Ren can take whatever he wants. Consider it a gift from Tandor the Hutt."

The man offered no acknowledgment of thanks, only grabbed Echo's arm roughly and pulled her towards the exit. He nodded to the three black-clad figures who fell in step behind him. Before they left the hall, he turned to a Stormtrooper positioned at the entrance. "Kill them," he said to the soldier simply.

As he led Echo from the compound, Echo could hear the screech of blasters and yells of pain following behind them. The scent of burnt flesh was carried through the wind to her nose even as the pair began to board the small craft stationed outside of the market. She began to struggle, realizing suddenly that if she did not get away now, she'd be trapped aboard a starcraft with this terrible man and more Stormtroopers than she could stomach.

"Let go of me!" she finally yelped, admittedly with less vigor that she was hoping for, and attempted to jerk her arm away from Kylo Ren. His grip only tightened and she looked around desperately, realizing that a call for help would be futile, as all the possible onlookers were dead from blaster shots. An idea jumped from the back of her mind, a last ditch attempt to free herself, and she remembered the pain that had coursed through her hand in the cantina, and the feeling of being lifted to her feet in Tandor's chambers. Will all her might, she curled her free hand into a fist and swung it, landing the blow across the knuckles of the black-gloved hand that help her.

Kylo Ren let out a hiss and his gripped lessened, only slightly, but enough for Echo to wrench her arm out of his grasp. She took off sprinting, hoping that the Stormtroopers wouldn't shoot at the girl that they had just wiped out a small village to get. Her legs burned as she propelled herself forward, running faster than she had ever had in her life, but she did not get far as she felt once again that awful pull, this time around her throat, and she gasped as her body jerked backward like a slingshot and she fell painfully on her back into the sand.

Her lungs burned for air and her body jerked haphazardly. Her fingers traveled to her throat, trying in vain to relieve the pressure on her windpipe. A shadow crossed over her and she looked up at the man in black, whose looming stature obscured her view of the sky above her. As he began to speak, the pressure finally lifted and Echo sucked in air, coughing and sputtering.

"You truly think you can escape the First Order that easily? Stop this foolishness, whether by choice or not you will come with me, the decision is yours on the ease of it," he said flatly, his void made cold by the automation of the helmet.

Echo closed her eyes tight and let out a sigh before she willed herself to stand. Finally she said, "All right… let's go."

Kylo Ren took her arm again, this time the grip was lax, as if the gesture was more for show than anything else, and led her to the craft and up the ramp. He seated her harshly on one of the chrome benches next to a Stormtrooper and then lowered himself on the bench opposite of hers, the onyx eye panel of his visor not leaving its trained visage on her face. When he sat her down he had fastened cuffs around her wrists and she looked down at the silver bands as she spoke, wanting to look anywhere but her faceless captor.

"Where are we going?" she asked, releasing the question into the silence around her.

Kylo Ren let the question hang in the air as he ruminated on his earlier meeting with Snoke, and what he had felt when he had looked on Tattooine with the Force. Finally, he reached out to the girl's mind and entered with relative ease. _We're going to the Unknown Regions, to Lehon._

The girl's head shot up and she looked at him with confusion. He felt her thoughts turning over one another before she responded. _You said that… in my head, didn't you?_ Kylo gave a slight nod and she continued. _How did you do that?_

 _With the Force,_ he said in her mindscape, _You're a Force-sensitive individual, like myself. It seems as though your ability has manifested later in life. My master sensed it before I, he commanded me to come and retrieve you._

She let out a snort, and the Stormtrooper next to her looked to her for a fleeting moment, and then turned away. Red dusted across her cheeks and she looked back down at her cuffed hands. _The Force, like… Jedi and lightsabers? Those things aren't real. At least, not anything._

Kylo Ren felt her indignation building in his cerebral. _If it is not, then how are we having this exchange? You think it is not real because you've been a slave all of your life, powerless. My master and myself, through the The Force, can show you how to achieve true power._

The girl looked up, disbelief still clouding her eyes, but her next question caught Kylo off guard. _Well then… how's your hand?_

 _What?_

 _Your hand,_ she continued quietly, _I know that it was you that made me stand up in Tandor's quarters, you did it the same way you stopped me from running away. I know I haven't stuck my hand in a trash compacter lately, so the pain I felt in the cantina… It must have been yours._

Kylo Ren grimaced under his mask. _Enough. We will be in Lehon in a few hours. I suggest you try and rest, the Supreme Leader will want to meet you upon our arrival._

Echo tried to protest, to ask more of the questions she felt were becoming never ending, but she felt her mind change. It emptied out, leaving her disturbingly alone, and so she gave up, deciding rather to take this man's advice. She leaned her head back against the wall of the ship and tried to will herself to sleep. Whether it was from her own doing or from the utter exhaustion the day had caused her, she soon drifted off.

* * *

 **an:** so i saw tfa for the third time today... my excuse was that my mom hadn't seen it yet so i convinced her to go. turns out, it was just as good as the third time around. anyway, here's the second chapter. i think now we can start getting things rolling. ;)

as before, please review, follow, and fav, as it would make your dear writer very happy.

xoxo


	3. Chapter 3

Echo was roused from sleep by a hand nudging harshly against her shoulder. She let out an annoyed groan and then mumbled in a voice riddled with sleep, "Tamara I told you to _leave me alone_." She swat the hand away only for it to prod her harder.

"What?" she finally yelled as she jerked her head forward and opened her eyes. But it wasn't the helpless little girl from the compound who woke her up in the middle of the night, every night, crying to Echo about her latest night terror. It was Kylo Ren. The man, Echo soon realized, who had ordered Tamara's murder. Echo had been so caught off guard by the events on Tattooine, and though she didn't want to admit it, the feeling of satisfaction at the thought of a dead Tandor and Reaver, that it hadn't struck her until now that innocents had also been slain on the dusty planet as well. Her stomach soured at the thought. She jumped to her feet, looking around the vessel. It had emptied out of Stormtroopers, with only Echo and the man in black occupying its cabin.

"We're here," he said shortly and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the exit ramp of the ship.

Her shoulder, the one bruised by the strike of Tandor's whip, stiffened and protested at the sudden movement. She let out a hiss of pain and pulled her arm into her side. "Careful!" she exclaimed before remembering that the man who held her most likely did not care about her pain, which considering what she felt from him in the cantina, was minuscule at best. He did not reply to her request and continued to pull her from the ship.

As the pair walked into the hanger, Echo's breath caught in her throat and she paused, taking in what she saw before her. The room was vast, bigger than anything she had ever seen, and she sworn that the towering ceilings must have scraped the sky itself. Figures in various uniforms and armor bustled this way and that. Echo was used to bustle, there was never a quiet moment at Tandor's compound, after all, but the order of this place was nothing like she had ever seen. It reminded her vaguely of a time she had run off from the compound as a child, not necessarily trying to escape (that was futile), but more trying to find a moment of ever-elusive solitude. She had escaped to a collection of dunes, and in her idle time, dug away at a fire ant colony tucked into the side of a hill. What she saw when she scraped the wall of dirt away were tunnels upon tiny tunnels which the little insects covered in well-fashioned, method lines, each having their own destination and purpose. It felt like that in this hanger, as well.

"How do they all know what they're supposed to do?" she breathed.

"What?" Kylo Ren asked in a clipped tone as he led her to one of the many corridors that jutted off from the hanger.

"Everything just seems so… organized. With this many people, I'm used to chaos. There's no chaos here."

"That is because this is not some loathsome creature's attempt at enterprise," Kylo Ren replied as they walked, turning corner after corner with what Echo thought was no true destination. "This is the First Order, the most powerful entity in the galaxy."

"Oh," was all Echo replied, feeling stupid and naive.

After that, they walked along in silence before reaching a blast door, identical to all of the others it was tucked between in the corridor. Kylo Ren placed his hand up, fingers pointed towards the door itself, and it slipped open with a _whoosh._ He led Echo through doorway, followed suite, and then released her cuffs.

"These are your quarters for the time being," he said, gesturing to the room around them. It was small, but not cramped and immaculately clean. The walls were made of black chrome, like the rest of the fortress, and three cubes cut into the wall over the small cot for storage. On the other side of the room there was a basin with a spout over it, a small square mirror above it, and to the left was placed an archway that led to the shower and toilet. Echo turned herself around a few times, as Kylo Ren had finally released his grip on her when they entered the room, and absorbed her surroundings before turning back to the man.

"This is mine?" she asked.

"Yes. Did you think you would be placed on a palette in the hanger?" he replied smartly.

Echo snorted. "It'd beat my hammock on Tattooine."

Kylo Ren turned and pointed to a pile of folded clothes set on the edge of the bed. "You should wash up and change from your current…" he paused, taking in Echo's sleeveless brass bodice that cut just above the navel and her skirt, which fell to her feet, but was more like two flaps of fabric, leaving the sides of her legs exposed, "… attire. I'll be back soon to escort you to the Supreme Leader."

Echo looked down and blushed, suddenly feeling very exposed. This was her required uniform as a server at the compound, and she was quite used to feel of lecherous eyes never leaving her, but in front of this man she felt a newfound desire for modesty.

"Okay," she finally said, turning towards the basin as Kylo Ren exited the room, the door closing and locking with a click behind him.

* * *

Kylo Ren walked a few paces down the hall before he turned, passing through the anteroom of his quarters and entering his bedroom that was situated on the edge of the corner. He pressed a button at the side of his jaw and his mask released. He lifted it off of his head and rested it with care on marble column beside his bed. Finally finding himself alone, he shed his clothes until he was left in only a tight fitting black shirt and his pants. He removed his boots and collapsed on his bed, taking a much needed breath. He was impossibly tired and it didn't help that he knew the day was long from over. He attempted to close his eyes and rest, but flashes of a figure falling and a blaster shot barreling its way towards him clouded his mind, so he snapped his eyes back open and opted instead to stare blankly at the ceiling above him.

Just as Kylo felt himself settle into some sort of calmness, he heard a faint knocking at his door. He huffed angrily and rose, making his way to the anteroom door. He assumed it would be some thoughtless lieutenant who had an asinine question, but as the blast door shot opened, he was met with wide grey eyes.

"Um… Kylo Ren?" asked the girl from Tattooine.

"How did you find my quarters?" he barked at her, causing her to flinch.

"I.. I don't know, I thought about it and realized I already knew how to get here."

Kylo Ren quirked his eyebrow, realizing that the girl had used the Force to find him without even meaning to.

"What do you need?" he asked.

She gave him a sheepish look. "I don't know how to turn on the sink. Or anything, really," she admitted and then bit her lip.

He looked down at her without speaking, the thought dawning on him how out of place this girl truly was. When he didn't reply, she began speaking again in a nervous rush.

"I know that sounds idiotic, but at the compound, we didn't have a sink. Or a shower. Just a spicket that continuously pumped water, and… I sound like a barbarian, don't I?"

Without a word, Kylo grabbed her arm and led her back to her chambers, and she continued on without missing a beat.

"You know, your 'ultimate leader', or whatever he's called, don't you think he probably made a mistake? I mean, he had to have made a mistake, right? Don't you think that—"

"Enough!" Kylo yelled without thinking and turned to her, leaning into the girl as they stood in her sparse room. She reared her head back, eyes widening at his outburst. "I think the only mistake made was not removing your ability to speak. You must stop this incessant rambling!"

Her eyes narrowed in anger and she shoved a thin finger into his chest. "Excuse me?" she yelled back, trying to match Kylo's tone. " _I'm_ asking too many questions? You're the one who brought me here! You're the one who murdered everyone I know and dragged me to this cold, sterile place, and then dropped me in a room! If anything, I think I deserve some sort of explanation, damn it!" She prodded her finger at his chest again, but this time the action sent Kylo reeling back, slamming against the wall with a sharp thud. It knocked the wind out of him and he looked up at her, fury in his eyes as he gathered himself and stalked towards her, hand now reaching out to overpower her. But just as his force grip was about to reach itself around her throat, a voice boomed through his mind, raking his brain with the strength of it. Kylo realized it had affected Echo as well, as she crumpled to the ground with her hands over her ears, not used to being invaded so harshly by the Force.

 _Enough!_ Snoke's voice boomed through the minds of the pair, seemingly reverberating off the walls, though someone without sensitivity to the Force would have encountered absolute silence.

 _Kylo Ren, bring the girl to me. Immediately._

Kylo collected himself as the girl rose from her knees. He again pointed to the collection of clothes on the bed. "Get dressed, I'll be back in a moment to collect you." At that he left the room, leaving to retrieve the mask and armor he had left in his own quarters.

* * *

Echo had just finished dawning the plain black shirt and trousers given to her as Kylo Ren entered the pill box of a room.

"You could have knocked," she grumbled as he grabbed her arm and led her back into the hallway. She jerked her arm away from him as they began walking. "I can follow you find enough on my own," she stated. She assumed the small act of defiance had made him angry, but she couldn't read any emotion through his mask as he looked down at her, then continued walking.

The pair travelled down staircase after staircase as they descended lower into the belly of the compound. As they travelled, the air around them grew still and cold, colder than the artificial chill the air conditioning system created in the upper floors of the compound. The walls surrounding them turned from black chrome to a dusty gray granite as they reached the end of the final staircase. Kylo Ren led Echo down the end of the hallway, past door after door of silver carved with swirling symbols that Echo assumed meant something to someone more intelligent than she. At the end of the hallway was a final door, similar to the other ones but much larger and arched to a point at the top. Kylo Ren waved his hand in front of the door and it opened with a slow, strangled hiss.

Something in the back of her mind screamed at Echo to turn the other way, run as far as she could, that plummeting through the frozen bleakness of space would be more comfortable than encountering whatever presence lay before her, and it there was a presence, Echo felt strength rolling off of it in waves and it made her feel impossibly small. She balked, her legs refusing to move, so of course Kylo Ren pulled her roughly into the room, a habit she was quickly growing tired of.

As they entered, Echo took in the immensity of the room, the height of the ceiling was akin to the hanger, though the room was much narrower and void of anything. The same runes of the silver doors, and many more symbols, were etched into the stone walls that surrounded them. In the center of the room sat a figure clad in a grayed robe, worn with age, and as they approached him Echo took in his features. He was tall, she could tell that even though he was sitting, taller then Kylo Ren and very thin. The hue of his face was a pallid discoloration and it was gnarled with scars, they cut away at half of his face. His eyes were sharp and beady and they absorbed Echo's appearance as she approached, analyzing her with a strength that made her stomach curl. Kylo Ren bowed to the figure when they finally stopped in front of him, but Echo couldn't bring herself to move, only gawk up at the figure before her.

"Come here, girl," the man—the _thing_ —said to her, a spidery finger curling to beckon her closer.

"Who are you?" she murmured, not realizing she had walked the few small steps up the dais that held his simple stone chair and was now directly before him.

He gave her a smile, but such a contortion on his face was an ugly thing. "I am Commander Snoke, the one who brought you here."

" _Why?"_ she pleaded.

The man said nothing, but placed a large hand atop her head, his long fingers curling around her cheeks. She flinched, his skin was cold and rough against her face. "Open your mind to me, child."

She attempted his command as best she could, closing her eyes and relaxing her shoulders just a bit.

"Mmm." Echo could feel the man pilfering through every thought and memory her mind contained and she felt exposed, like a nerve. "There is much more to learn about you, even for a being as powerful as I," he finally said and released his grip on her.

Echo gasped and opened her eyes as he continued. "You are strong with the Force, this much is clear. I think it is best for my apprentice to overtake your instruction before you are ready to learn from me."

"What is the Force?" she asked quietly, her earlier mind-meld with Kylo not sufficient enough in answering all of her questions.

Snoke steepled his fingers and looked down at her. "When you sent Kylo Ren against the wall of your quarters, what did you feel?"

"I felt… angry, I suppose."

Snoke nodded. "The Force is, for those who are sensitive to it, a physical manifestation of human emotion. With the Force, you can learn to become more powerful than you could ever imagine. Would you like that, Echo?"

Echo truly considered this question. She thought of every lash of a whip inflicted on her over some minuscule infraction. She thought of how Reaver scrutinized her and relished in making her feel stupid and thoughtless. She thought of every young girl, just like herself, who had been brought to Tandor's palace to live a life of servitude… and the ones who died for the small price of Tandor's entertainment. She looked straight into the eyes of Snoke for the first time since she had entered his chambers. "Yes."

Snoke gave her another of his macabre smiles and then turned his attention away from her. "Kylo Ren."

"My lord," he replied and rose from his knee. He had been so still, so quiet, Echo had almost forgotten he was there.

"You will begin Echo's training tomorrow at first light."

"Yes, my lord," he gave another small bow and clutched Echo's elbow, leading her out of the room.

Echo was in a daze as they traveled back to her quarters and after Kylo had left her in her room, she shrunk against the wall and buried her head in her hands, letting out the breath she had been holding since they entered Snoke's audience hall. She let out a gasp and then, like a dam had been broken from too much pressure, she began to sob uncontrollably. This continued for minutes—hours?—until she had exhausted herself and fell asleep, curled on the floor in the corner.

* * *

 **an:** i start school on monday so updates won't be as frequent, though i still hope to update one to two times per week. so don't think i have given up! i just have to return to the real world, unfortunately.

many thanks to the people that are following and favoriting, y'all are the best!

xoxo


	4. Chapter 4

Echo woke with a start, her hand splayed on the hard ground beneath her and her cheeks stiff from dried tears. She took a moment to gather her unfamiliar surroundings as coherency swam back to her senses and she rose from her fetal position on the floor. As she tilted her head from side to side to ease out the stiffness from her neck, she looked at the chronometer tucked into the control panel beside the blast door and swore at what she saw. Promises of first light were plucked from her memory as she realized that dawn was fast approaching.

She had just finished mussing up her bed clothes enough to create the appearance that she had slept there instead of in a pathetic ball on the floor when the blast door to her room zipped open. Kylo Ren stood before the threshold, complete in cloak, armor, and helmet.

"You're awake," he mused as he took a small step to enter the room.

Echo shrugged, her back turned to him as she tried to rein in the mess of copper waves that was her hair into some semblance of order, finally deciding on a bun that cinched at the nape of her neck. "Big day, right?" she said will false casualty.

She got no respond but instead felt the pull that was becoming all too familiar, the signal that someone was entering her mind. "Don't," she said tersely as she turned her head to look at him. She imagined a strong box in her mind being locked tight with a key and the action must have worked, because Kylo Ren's presence retreated back before it gathered any information from her. There was nothing in the whole galaxy that would sway her into letting Kylo Ren learn that she had sobbed herself to sleep the previous night.

"You're learning," he said finally as he turned and left the room. Echo followed behind him, the door to her room closing behind her.

Echo followed Kylo through endless amounts of halls, her calves protesting at the pace she had maintain to keep up with her leader's long strides. Eventually they crossed through the hanger and into the other side of the compound. It was much busier than the side that housed her room and Kylo Ren's apartments, so she assumed that one side of the complex must have been dedicated to living quarters, while this one was all business. Troopers, along with men and women in various uniforms, flitted this way and that. They eyed the pair as they walked past, Kylo seemed to be oblivious of the people around them, or at least was pretending to be, but Echo didn't miss the occasional looks that were thrown at him, they spanned from timid apprehension to blatant distrust, and she wondered just what really was this thorny man's place in the immense institution.

Finally they reached a pair of blast doors that fell open as Kylo entered a collection of numbers onto a keypad adjacent to them. Echo took note that he didn't just will the doors open with the Force and she guessed that whatever room they were about to enter, it was important.

But as they entered, and she took stock of the room around them, it didn't seem important at all. It was large, the walls made up of silver panels that curved in, making it seem like they had just entered into a large ball. Suddenly, Kylo Ren stopped and turned on his heel, making Echo nearly ram into him. She took a few steps back to create a comfortable distance between them.

"So where are we?" she asked, breaking the silence they had fallen into as they travelled throughout the complex.

"This is where you will train," he replied.

Echo again took stock of the room around her and gave him a curious look. "But it's… empty."

"Run," Kylo said simply, the command sounding menacing through the mechanism of his mask.

"What?" Echo questioned.

"This room has an adequate perimeter for laps. Run," he replied.

Echo narrowed her eyes at him in a look of annoyance, but began jogging, following the curved walls of the room.

"Faster," Kylo Ren called from his place in the center of the room, the black eye screen of his mask staying trained on her. Echo quickened her pace.

"Now close your eyes."

"What?! No!" Echo called to him indignantly between breaths.

"Close. Your. Eyes. Or I'll do it for you," Kylo repeated, this time with more force.

Echo closed her eyes and her place slowed, her body reacting to the lack of vision in preservation. As she slowed, though, she felt a sharp pain pierce the back of her skull, no doubt caused by Kylo Ren.

"Don't slow down, _feel_ what is in front of you."

Echo huffed in annoyance but returned to a run to avoid another sharp prick in her mind. She continued for a short distance before tripping over some obstacle. Her shins connected with a sharp metal edge and she toppled over it, her knees and palms smarting as they made contact with the harsh floor. She felt bruises forming where her body absorbed the impact.

"Get up," Kylo yelled at her.

"Are you kidding me?!" she yelled back at him. She turned around to look at the metal cube that had risen a foot out of the ground, the cause of her tumble, and then turned to Kylo Ren, giving him a look of pure venom from her frustration.

"With the Force you should be able to sense the obstacles in front of you and avoid them. Get up."

Echo felt his presence again creep into the edge of her mind and she lifted herself before he could do whatever he aimed to do. She closed her eyes and began running again. This process continued for hours. Without warning, parts of the wall would jut out from the floor or the walls around her at Kylo Ren's silent command. Without fail, she would charge into them. They connected with her shins, her chest, once or twice with the side of her face, and she felt bruises and scraps forming all over her body. Blood pooled at the corner of her mouth from a particularly ill placed obstacle that had hit her square in the jaw. Over time, she felt her awareness improving, but it was still not enough, and she would only sense the obstacles in her path a breath before she collided with them, not giving her enough time to avoid them.

"Stop," Kylo Ren finally called to her after she collided with yet another strip of metal. She landed on her wrist and she heard a sharp crack as white hot pain bolted up her arm from her wrist. She leaned her back against the wall of the training room, cradling her wrist to her chest.

"I think it's broken," she wheezed.

She noticed Kylo clench his own fist before he spoke. "There's bacta and splints in the MedBay, come on." He exited the room and she followed, not caring if her sluggish pace caused her to end up a distance behind him. She ached all over her body and the utter exhaustion of running for hours was finally catching up to her.

When they entered the MedBay a droid frantically beeped at her and scooted itself behind her, ushering her over to one of the many slabs that jut out from the wall, surrounded by various machines and computers. She pushed herself onto a slab with her good hand, frowning down at the wrist that was beginning to swell. Besides the various medical droids, her and Kylo were the only human occupants of the room. He had positioned himself against the wall by the entrance, watching as a 2-1B unit busied itself with spreading sticky bacta around every inch of Echo's wrist and then gently placing a metal splint against her arm and wrapping gauze around it to secure the splint in place.

"My analysis confirms that your wrist will be fully healed in 1.73 days, the splint should be kept on at all times until then. Would you like an hour of full tank submersion to heal your surface injuries?" it inquired in its artificial cadence.

Echo looked at Kylo Ren and then back to the droid, squaring her shoulders and shaking her head. "I don't think that's necessary," she said as she flexed her fingers, already beginning to feel the bacta reforming the broken bone underneath her skin.

"Very well. You are clear for release."

Echo nodded to the droid and hopped down from her perch. She and Kylo Ren exited the MedBay and began their walk back to the living quarters of the complex. After minutes of silence, Kylo spoke. "Ignoring injuries will only postpone your training and waste my time. You should have gone in the tank," he said.

She gave him a sour look. "I'm fine, I'm no… whatever you are," she said, waving her hand in his direction, "but I'm not a paper doll either. You won't have to fret over your time."

He merely gave a small shrug of his shoulders and continued. "Before you go to your quarters for the evening, there's something I need to give you. I trust you can make your own way back to your room."

Echo rolled her eyes at how insufferable she was learning Kylo truly was as they entered the anteroom to his quarters. He led her through a small archway positioned to the right of the room and they entered what looked like a study. Only a table and chair occupied the room. Bookshelves filled to the brim lined the walls along with piles and piles of books littered across the floor. He approached the desk and removed his helmet, placing it gently on the table before he lifted up an especially large pile. "These books detail the history and theory of both the Jedi and the Sith, and their approaches to manipulating the Force." He dropped the books into Echo's arms and she let out an _umph_ at the weight of them. "You do know how to read, don't you?"

Echo raised her eyes at him, fighting the urge to pitch one of the volumes at his head. "Yes, I can."

He lifted an eyebrow and smirked down at her. "I saw that, you know," he said, alluding to Echo's mental picture of the spine of a book connecting harshly with his temple.

"Then you know how pleasant the idea of something hitting you in the face is for me," she smiled with sarcastic sweetness as she turned and left the room.

* * *

Echo sighed as she thumbed through one of the volumes opened up on the bed before her. As she popped an Ossberry from the plate of food that had been brought to her a room by a service droid into her mouth, she looked again at the title of the book. _History of Lightsaber Combat and Technique._ The thought of her wielding a lightsaber brought a small smile to her lips as she nibbled on cracker, turning her attention away from the book to lie on her back and stare up at the ceiling. She wondered absentmindedly when, or if, considering her progress today, she would ever reach the level of actual combat. An image of Kylo Ren flittered into her mind, of his igniting and wielding the lightsaber he kept cinched to his belt. Of her beside him, his equal in battle, and him giving her an approving smile as she cut down yet another faceless opponent. She scowled at her train of thought and huffed at the idea of Kylo smiling, believing the muscles of the man's face simple weren't able to construct his mouth into any design other than a frown.

She stretched her stiff arms and then bent them so they created a pillow under her head and closed her eyes. She thought absentmindedly of the pile of books beside her bed and then shook her head, deciding to save the endless reading until tomorrow.

* * *

 _Echo grunted as she fit her hand into a small crevice in the jagged rock face she was scaling. She wagered a looked up and almost cried with relief as the top of the face was coming into view. Just a little more… a few more strategically placed feet and fingers and she would finally be at the top. With a renewed sense of confidence she pulled herself up as her toes dug into the weathered stone, farther… just a little bit farther. She finally pulled herself up and over the edge of the cliff, rolling over on her back as she gulped in large breaths of air._

 _The jungle around her was thick was various vines and branches that seemed to create a wall separating the teeming life within it against the harsh stone that created the edge of the cliff. The double suns of the planet were setting, creating a sunset that sent crimson light refracting off the jade leaves and deepened the shadows that seemed to claw their way out of the jungle._

 _"Took you long enough," a voice called to her. She turned her head to the side, still too exhausted from the climb up to bring herself to her feet._

 _A figured stepped from the tree line, black hood covering its face._

 _"Who are you?" Echo asked. She realized she should have been cautious, but the cadence of her voice seemed better fit for an old friend than the faceless figure that approached her._

 _"All in good time," the figure replied as it brought pale figures to lift the hood away from its face. Grey eyes, not too unlike her own, stared back at her from a woman's face. Fair wavy hair contrasted with kohl liner that jutted into points both above and below the woman's eyes._

 _"I'm glad we finally get to meet, Echo," she said with a welcoming smile._

 _Echo couldn't help but return the smile as she sat up and tucked her legs underneath her. The woman closed the gap between them and settled herself on the ground beside Echo._

 _"I can feel how strong the Force is within you," she said, taking Echo's hand in hers and squeezing it softly._

 _Echo sighed and looked down at the rocky soil beneath her. "Commander Snoke felt the Force within me… Kylo Ren did too. But I can't feel it, I think they're wrong," she murmured, feeling as if she could confide in the women before her._

 _The woman rolled her gray eyes dramatically. "Commander Snoke and the pathetic grandson of a sentimental fool. They are beneath you."_

 _"What?" Echo asked, confusion knitting her brows together._

 _The woman caught Echo's eyes with a firm look. "I have been watching the galaxy for a very long time, Echo. I had the power to present myself to whomever I wished. Kylo Ren will be a failure like his grandfather, Darth Vader, was before him. It's_ you _I wanted to meet. You who has the potential to do great things."_

 _Echo felt her stomach twist with a feeling she couldn't quiet place, there was fear, anxiety, but most of all… anticipation. Even though Snoke had said the same thing to Echo, the look in the woman's eyes and the resolute tone she spoke with made Echo's heart clench. Whoever this woman was, Echo believed her._

 _"That is why we're here now, Echo. You and I were destined to meet. I was destined to train you… not Kylo Ren, not Snoke. During the days you may run as many laps as you wish, duel with sticks, or read volume after volume of dreadfully dry tomes. But here is where your_ real _training will be."_

 _Echo nodded vigorously, wanting to start training now. She craved even a fraction of the power that was rolling off of this woman in waves._

 _The woman gave her another smile. "It's time to wake up now, Echo. But we shall see each other again soon." She raised her hand and gently placed it on Echo's forehead. As skin made contact against skin, Echo felt a lurch in her gut, like she was being flung from a very great height as the landscape of the jungle and the woman before her faded to black. Somewhere in the blackness, a voice called out her name._

* * *

 **an** : this took a lot longer than i anticipated to get out, my apologies!


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